Institutions dependent on Haiti’s Catholic Church are expected to “observe a strike” on Thursday to protest insecurity, following the abduction on Sunday of ten people, including 7 a.m. religious – five Haitians and two French – near Port -au-Prince.
“To protest against bad deeds in the country,” the Church calls on “Catholic institutions,” including schools and universities, to “observe a work stoppage” on Thursday, the Haitian Episcopal Conference announced in a statement on Tuesday.
“Bandits” who “act in peace” appear to have “more power than the state and police,” lamented religious leaders, claiming that “even children are not saved” from kidnappings.
Masses will be held on Thursday “to ask God to change Haiti,” they added.
On Monday, the archdiocese of Port-au-Prince deplored the “descent into hell of Haitian society” and denounced the inaction of public authorities in this Caribbean country ravaged by insecurity.
“Public authorities that do nothing to resolve this crisis are not immune to suspicion. We denounce complacency and complicity no matter where they come from,” they said in a statement.
Later, President Jovenel Moise vowed not to “surrender” to the “scourge” of the segrest in Haiti. “I am aware that the state needs to make more efforts in the fight against this disaster,” he had acknowledged.
The group abducted on Sunday includes four Haitian priests and a nun, as well as two French citizens from the west of France: a nun from the department of Mayenne and a priest from Ille-et-Vilaine who has been living for more than 30 years. in Haiti.
Three more people were also abducted, family members of a Haitian priest who is not among the abductees.
Most Haitians are Catholic and their country is the poorest in America.